Residents kick as FCTA begins demolition of Karmo market

The FCT Department of Development Control has commenced the demolition of over 500 illegal structures at the popular Karmo market in the territory.

The assistant director of sector monitor in the Department of Development Control, Tpl Garba Jibrin, said the administration decided to demolish the market because the area has been encountering lots of bottlenecks because of the market since inception of Abuja.

But some victims of the exercise said they were not given enough notice before the exercise.

Mallam Suleiman Audu, described the exercise as another way of oppressing ordinary Nigerians, who are doing everything possible to survive.

He warned that many youths, who survive by either selling or hawking at the market might be forced to engage in crimes, something they claim they are trying to check.

But the assistant director of sector monitor in the Department of Development Control, Tpl Garba Jibrin, attributed FCTA’s action on  the serious gridlock on the Karmo road which has made it very difficult for motorists and residents of the area to access the road on a daily basis.

“So, for us to make it easy for Abuja residents, the minister said we should open up the road by ensuring that all the bottlenecks along the road are cleared.

“Part of it is the informal commercial activities along the road. It is a known fact that every one that wants to pass here on a market day spends hours without passing across.

“So, the FCTA is concerned about the health and safety of every resident. There is a market that is opened, and fully built and waiting for the traders to come and occupy it.

“So, based on that, we have settled this problem here, that they should move away from here and relocate to the new market that has been built for them to occupy,” he said.

Secretary, Command and Control Centre, FCTA, Dr Peter Olumuji, said Karmo community had been a settlement that was unplanned, adding that lots of illegalities have been going on in the area.

“If you look at the road corridor that leads from Gwagwa through Karmo to Kado, which has the Karmo main market here, we have a lot of shanties and unplanned settlements that people hibernate.

“These people during the night time go into all types of crime; even those who play these routes are not safe from their nefarious activities. What we have come to do here in conjunction with the development control by clearing this place, is going to reduce the crime rate within this axis.’’